Display containers



Jan. 2, 1962 J. SHlFFMAN DISPLAY CONTAINERS Filed Aug. 30, 1960 FlG.1.

- INVENTOR. Jerome S hiffman llllHil mam- United States Patent 3,015,383 DISPLAY CONTAINERS Jerome Shifrman, 125 E. 144th St., New York 51, N.Y. Filed Aug. 30, 1960, Ser. No. 52,816 2 Claims. (Cl. 206-4523) This invention relates to containers or boxes, and more particularly to a type intended for holding and displaying articles of jewelry, such as rings, watches, and many other small articles.

It is one of the objects of the invention to provide a container of this character which can, if desired, be made of plastic materials, and which will form an attractive protective enclosure for the goods and which, when in its display position, will show its contents effectively and advantageously.

It is an object of the invention to provide a container consisting or" a pivotally-mounted tray in which the goods are held, said tray being rotatively mounted within a cover member and arranged when in one position, to locate the contents within and protected by the cover member, and when in another position to be located at an angle with the goods fully exposed for perfect showing and display, the cover when in the latter position, acting as a supporting stand for the inclined tray. The invention further includes the provision of stop means provided on the tray for locating the same in either of its two positions.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I have devised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

in the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed,

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a container constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view of a portion of one end of the container;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the container;

FIG. 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the center of the container;

FIG. 5 is an end view of the tray;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view, in a smaller scale, of the container in its display position, and

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view through the cover member near one of its ends to disclose one of the end walls of said cover member.

The improved container is composed of two parts namely, a relatively shallow tray or base member generally indicated at 1, and a top or cover member "2. The function of the top or cover member is to form a protective enclosure for goods held by the tray when the tray is in one of its positions, and to form a stand for supporting the tray when the tray is arranged in a display position. Both the tray and cover member may be composed of moulded plastic or made of metal, wood or any other suitable substance.

The top or cover member 2 includes end walls respectively shown at 3 and 4 and each of these walls is formed at its lower end with a thickened, downwardlyextending lug 5 having an integral, inwardly-projecting stud 6. The top or cover member may be suitably embellished or decorated, that shown resembling a so-ca-lled treasure chest, but of course various other designs are possible. The top or cover member is of a depth to permit the tray to freely pivot within it, so that the tray, by such pivotal movement, can have its top facing either upwardly or downwardly.

The base member or tray 1 has a central chamber 7 provided with padding or filling 8, the same being formed with a central crevice or recess 9 into which a finger ring it] or other article may be inserted. The base member Fatented Jan. 2., 1962 or tray 1 is provided with integral end walls 11 and 12 which lie adjacent to and between the end walls 3 and 4 when the tray is fitted within the cover as shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4.

The end walls 11 and 12 of the tray are each provided with an integral thickened or reinforced area 13 and each of these areas is formed with a recess or hole 14 extending into or through the end wall in which it is formed. Formed on one edge of the side wall 15 of the tray is a projecting flange 16, which extends for substantially the entire length of said wall, and said flange serves as a stop member in the two positions which the tray assumes relatively to the cover member.

In fitting the tray in the cover member 2, the end walls of the cover member are flexed or slightly sprung apart, the resiliency of these Walls permitting this required spreading, and this coupled with the resiliency present in the end walls 11 and 12 of the tray, enables the studs 6 to be snapped into the recesses or holes 14, thus centrally freely pivoting the tray within the cover member.

In FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 of the drawing, the container is disclosed in its closed position at which time the top of the chamber 7 containing the goods, such as the ring 16, is facing upwardly so that the contents of the chamber are thus contained within and protected by the cover member 2. In this position, the container serves as an ornamental protective enclosure for its contents. While the container is in this closed condition, the flange 16 abuts against the lower edge 21 of the side wall 22 of the cover member, the flange 16 thus acting as a stop and serving to properly position the tray 1 in respect to the cover member.

When it is desired to display the contents of the tray, the tray is pivotally swung on its pivots 6 to an inverted position to bring the open side of the chamber 7 to a downwardly-facing position and slightly inclined as shown in FIG. 6. This position of the tray is determined by the flange lo abutting against the opposite side wall of the cover member, and limiting the swing of the tray to the inclined position thereof as shown in H6. 6.

The cover member 2 is polygonal and is thus provided with two angular, slightly curved surfaces 26, either of which can serve as a supporting surface for the container while the same is acting as a stand to support the tray in the display position shown in FIG. 6. When the cover member is rested upon a flat surface, on either of the surfaces 2% the tray will be supported at an angle so that its contents will be available for easy viewing and inspection.

Having thus described a single embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What I claim is:

1. A container comprising, a tray having end walls provided with centrally-located openings, a cover member fitted over the tray and having side walls and having end walls overlying the end walls of the tray, the end walls on the cover member having downwardly-extending lugs formed with integral studs entering the openings in the end Walls of the tray, the tray havin side walls, one of said side walls being formed with a projecting flange extending for its length, said flange limiting the pivotal movement of the tray in one direction by its contact with one of the side walls of the cover member, and limiting the pivotal movement of the tray in the opposite direction by its contact with an opposite side wall of the cover member, the tray having a range of pivotal movement with respect to the cover member to permit the top of the tray to either face upwardly within the cover member or to face downwardly to have its upper face 3 completely exposed out of the cover member for display of its contents.

2. A display container for jewelry and the like, comprising a relatively shallow tray provided with means for holding one or more articles for protection or display, the tray having end walls and side walls, each of the end walls having a thickened area formed with a hole, one of the side walls having an outwardly-projecting flange constituting a stop for limiting pivotal movement of the tray in two directions, a cover member within which the tray is pivotally mounted, the tray beingpivotal relatively to the cover member to cause the top of the tray to either face upwardly and be covered by the cover member or to be reversed to have the entire top of the tray disposed on the outside of the cover member, the cover member having end Walls and side walls, the side Walls of the cover member acting as abutments for the flange on the tray at the limits of pivotal movement of the tray, the end Walls of the cover member being each formed with a downwardly-extending lug overlying the thickened areas on the end walls of the tray, each lug having an inwardly-directed stud entering one of the holes in the end walls of the tray, and the cover member having a plurality of angular surfaces on any of which the cover member can be rested to maintain the container in a position of display.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 234,532 Berry Sept. 4, 1883 716,909 Longnecker Dec. 30, 1902 1,431,133 Young Oct. 3, 1922 2,199,008 Oshei Apr. 30, 1940 2,241,989 Friedrich et al. May 31, 1941 2,505,405 Iarboe Apr..25, 1950 2,608,296 Masi Aug. 26, 1952 2,642,987 Castelli June 23, 1953 2,966,257 Littlejohn Dec. 27, 1960 

